Independence leaves Mobile for sea trials over Independence Day weekend

Mike Kittrell, Press-RegisterLCS 2 , Independence, leaves the Mobile River for the first time July 2.

MOBILE, Ala. -- The littoral combat ship Independence set out from Austal USA about 8:30 a.m. today for four days of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. General Dynamics Corp., lead contractor on the first-of-its-kind Navy ship, said it will provide further details at the conclusion of the trials.

The open-ocean trials let builders test the propulsion, navigation, communications and other systems before the vessel is handed over to the Navy. General Dynamics had originally scheduled the departure for Monday, but postponed it when people overseeing the launch detected problems with the propulsion system.

The first littoral combat ship, Freedom, was built by a Lockheed Martin Corp.-led team and has already been delivered. Both teams hope to build multiple ships as the Navy works toward a fleet of 55 such vessels, and each has been awarded a contract for one additional ship.

The ships' designs are vastly different, with Freedom having a traditional steel hull and Independence boasting an aluminum trimaran hull, essentially a long, deeper monohull flanked by a pair of smaller side hulls for stability.

Their propulsion systems, however, are similar. Each has two main diesel engines and two gas turbines, as well as water jets that are akin to a giant personal watercraft.